In a typical scenario, an organization such as a business may wish to send one or more documents to a recipient in an especially time-sensitive manner. For example, the documents may relate to a transaction between the organization and the recipient where time is of the essence, where the time frame within which action must be taken is relatively short, or the like. In any case, the documents must be delivered to the recipient in an expeditious manner. Accordingly, the organization may print the documents for the recipient, place the documents in an appropriate delivery package, and then deposit the packaged documents with an expedited delivery carrier that then proceeds to deliver the packaged documents to the recipient in the expedited manner.
Typically, the expedited delivery carrier is one of several large and known carriers that specialize in the expedited delivery of packages, and may in fact have developed a large and sophisticated physical plant to effectuate such expedited delivery. For example, the carrier may be the FedEx Corporation of Memphis Tenn. or the United Parcel Service (UPS), Inc. of Greenwich Conn., and may have a vast network of sorting facilities, transferring facilities, pickup vehicles, delivery vehicles and even aircraft. However, even with such an expedited carrier service, the packaged documents are at best typically delivered into the hand of the recipient on an overnight basis. In at least some instances, such overnight delivery is not fast enough for purposes of the organization and/or the recipient.
Moreover, even with the use of such an expedited delivery carrier, the organization still is required to maintain facilities both to print the documents and to package same in a form amenable to the carrier. Particularly if the organization has a relatively high volume of such documents that are to be delivered to a multitude of recipients, the cost of such facilities can be quite significant, as can the cost charged by the carrier to deliver all of the packaged documents to all of the recipients thereof.
Notably, even when packaged documents are delivered to a recipient, it is oftentimes the case that the recipient must take action with regard to the delivered documents and then return the documents to the organization. Usually, such action includes signing the documents, and perhaps even having the signed documents notarized. At any rate, taking such action can take precious time, for example if a notary public is not immediately available to notarize the signed documents, and once such action is taken, returning the documents to the organization can take even more precious time, even if an expedited delivery carrier is employed to effectuate such return on an overnight basis.
Of course, in the present electronic age the organization may deliver the documents electronically to the recipient, perhaps by way of electronic mail or electronic facsimile. The recipient may then take at least some actions with respect to the delivered documents and immediately return same electronically to the organization, again perhaps by way of electronic mail or electronic facsimile. For example, if signing is required, the recipient may print and sign the documents and then return the signed documents. However, the recipient may not have the necessary systems and functionality available thereto to receive and return the documents electronically. Moreover, and perhaps critically, other actions such as the aforementioned notarizing may require an undesirable delay in the return of the documents, especially if a notary public is not immediately available to the recipient.
Accordingly, a need exists for an electronic document delivery system that delivers documents from an organization to a recipient and that receives the documents as executed or the like from the recipient in an expedited manner.